This is a follow-up story about the murder of Brian Terry. In December of 2010, US Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered by a gang of Mexican banditos. Two of the weapons involved in the shooting were learned to have come from a federal program called “Operation Fast & Furious”. Recently the House Judiciary Committee under the leadership of Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) held a hearing to receive testimony from US Attorney General (AG) Eric Holder as to the Justice Department’s involvement in this operation. Congressman Ted Poe (R-TX) is a member of that committee and recently sat down with me to discuss this and other matters related to Border Security and Illegal Immigration.

I asked Congressman Poe about his impressions of AG Holder during the hearings. Poe said, “The more I learned from AG Holder, the more I was concerned, and am concerned about this entire operation.” He continued, “The idea that the United States would smuggle automatic weapons to our neighbor, Mexico; give them to the drug cartels, the enemy of Mexico and the United States, 2000 weapons most of which are unaccounted for, it’s nonsense.”

Poe stated that 200 Mexicans have died and at least 2 American law enforcement have died because of this operation.

The second thing that Holder said that surprised Poe was, “More people are going to die.” Poe said, “That’s awful!”

The third thing Poe said was, “I asked him, who was in charge of this operation?” Holder’s answer – “I don’t know!” Poe said that answer was preposterous.

Poe went on to say, “If he (Holder) didn’t know who was in charge, is there a rogue operation going on in the Justice Department?” If there is some “rogue operation” going on, why has the Justice Department been unable to figure that out?

Video Interview with Congressman Ted Poe

I asked Poe if the AG testified under oath. He informed me that while Holder was not “sworn in” before the hearing, part of the agreement to testify makes it clear that the testimony was under potential of perjury. Poe expressed dissatisfaction with Holder’s reluctance to give up any of his direct correspondence related to Fast & Furious. He assured me, “We will get the documents!”

Poe said Holder should resign and President Obama should appoint a special prosecutor to completely investigate this operation. I asked Poe about other’s calling for impeachment of the AG. He said that impeachment would take too long, citing next year’s elections. He went on to say the Senate would never convict anyway. If Obama does not appoint a special prosecutor, Poe felt certain a new president would in 2013.

Congressman Ted Poe

I asked Poe what he learned that he did not know before the hearing. He expressed that he was surprised to learn that Mexico did know part of the operation but not the entire operation. Poe asked Holder during the hearing, “Would you agree this was reckless conduct on the part of the part of the Justice Department?” Holder replied, “Yes, I would agree that it was reckless.” Poe pointed out that under Texas law; reckless conduct that resulted in the death of another peron is manslaughter at which point Holder backed away from his comment.

We went on to discuss the family of Agent Terry and their desire to see justice done. We talked about how the over aggressive prosecution of Border Patrol agents, like Agent Jesus Diaz, might have led to hesitation in response by Border Patrol Agents leading to their deaths.

And finally, we wrapped up the interview following up on our previous discussion about Congressman Poe’s bill on border security that would place 10,000 National Guard troops along the border, under the direction of border state governors but paid for by the federal government. He told me this bill is still in committee and they plan on moving it forward next year.

At one point in the interview, Poe mentioned Holder’s reputation for not reading legislation citing the AG’s failure to read the Arizona 1070 bill prior to filing suit against the state of Arizona and even before testifying before Congress on the matter. Here is a video of that exchange between Poe and the AG.

We left this interview knowing we have much more to discuss. As the Congressional investigation continues, I will check back in with the Congressman to bring you updates on the progress of the investigation. If you have questions you would like me to ask the Congressman on this matter, please reply in the comments below and I will bring them up in our next interview.

Federal Judge Reggie Walton declared a mistrial today in the trial of baseball legend Roger Clemens. A hearing will be held later to determine if the Justice Department can bring this case to trial again or not. Clemens was charged with lying to Congress about his alleged use of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs.

But wait, when did lying to Congress become a crime? The US Departments of Justice and Homeland Security have been lying to Congress about Operation Gunrunner for months. So much so that you might think lying to Congress was the new “national pastime”.

Since the murder of US Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, members of Homeland Security’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE or ATF) have been lying and covering up their involvement in supplying the guns used to kill Agent Terry.

Congressman Ted Poe

In February, I reported that Assistant U.S. Attorney General Ronald Weichdenied the ATF’s involvement in supplying assault weapons in a letter to Senator Charles Grassley in reponse to his inquiries about this subject. (Letter from Weich at DOJ to Sen. Grassley – PAGE 1, PAGE 2.) Why is he not being charged with lying to Congress?

In my May interview with Congressman Ted Poe (R-TX), he said, “The whole idea is nonsense“, Congressman Poe said about Operation Gun Runner. “A thousand or more of those weapons have gone to Mexico.” Poe indicated this is an issue that Congressman Lamar Smith, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee should be interested in looking into.

Congressman Lamar Smith

So far, that has not happened, but Chairman Smith did release a statement this week denouncing the Obama Administration’s plans to require additional reporting on gun purchased in Texas and three other border states. Smith stated, “It is the height of hypocrisy for the Obama administration to restrict the gun rights of border state citizens, when the administration itself knowingly and intentionally allowed guns to be trafficked into Mexico.”

What is the height of hypocrisy is that our government thinks that a baseball player allegedly lying about whether or not he used steroids rises to the level of a prosecutable offense when members of our government are allowd to repeatedly lie to Congress with impunity.

Somehow our national priorities are just a little messed up. I say it is time that Congress take action against high level government officials lying to them. What do you say?